Sack lunches may also pack a risk of bacteria

Here’s just one more thing for a moms to worry about. Just last month, as children headed back into the classroom, an interesting study was published in the respected medical journal, Pediatrics discussing the risk of foodborne illnesses in sack lunches prepared at home. The researchers wanted to determine the temperature of the perishable foods during the morning hours prior to lunchtime.

The researchers tested 705 lunches that contained a total of 1,361 perishable foods. The temperature was measured 90 minutes before lunchtime.

The results were astounding: Only 22 or 1.6% of the 1361 perishable food items were in a safe temperature zone. Overall, 97.4% of meats, 99% of dairy, and 98.5% of vegetables were in the danger zone.

These kinds of unsafe foods can cause intestinal infections that lead to symptoms of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever and abdominal pain.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that every year about 76 million people in the United States become ill from contaminated foods. Of these people, about 5,000 die.

Almost half of the reported foodborne illnesses occur in children, with the majority occurring in children under age 15 years. Frightening, right?

Why? Because children are at particularly high risk for foodborne illness due to an immature immune system, reduced stomach acid available to kill harmful bacteria, and low body weight – which means a lower dose of pathogen is required to cause injury.

There are three important factors when considering food safety: (1) type of food, (2) stored temperature, and (3) time exposed to unsafe temperature.

Certain types of foods —meat, poultry, fish, dairy products and cut fruits and vegetables are most likely to carry the bacteria that cause foodborne illnesses like Salmonella and E coli.

If the bacteria are present when the food is prepared, then refrigerating the food to below 400F prevents the bacteria from multiplying and causing an infection. Additionally, cooking foods to a temperature greater 1650F will kill any bacteria in food.

Once cooked, the hot foods need to stay at a safe temperature of greater than 1400 F prior to serving or refrigerated to less than 400F for storing.

When perishable foods like chicken salad or bologna sandwiches are left in the “danger” temperature zone of 400F to 1400 F for greater than two hours, the harmful bacteria rapidly multiply. When this happens, the foods must be discarded due to risk of contamination by bacteria and toxins, which can cause mild to life threatening intestinal infections.

Consider making a meat sandwich of turkey or roast beef the night before and putting in the freezer using bags designed for freezing. It will take 3 to 3.5 hours for the sandwich to thaw.

Soups, stews and chili make a hearty lunch. To use them in a packed lunch, heat to boiling and put in a sterilized thermos bottle.

Finally, I recommend giving your child a high quality probiotic like EndoMune Junior. There has been increasing evidence in the last 10 years for the benefit of probiotics in preventing and treating acute diarrhea in children. Studies have shown that probiotics are able to defend the human intestinal tract against harmful bacteria. The probiotic bacteria stimulate the immune response, prevent pathogens from adhering to the intestinal lining cells and produce antibacterial proteins. In addition, a number of studies have found that giving probiotics versus a placebo to children in day care facility can statistically lessen the risk of having an episode of diarrhea.